Histoire
The game of the French court
In August 1697 the Paris society magazine Mercure galant printed something new: a board, its rules and a few problems for a game called le solitaire. An engraving published by Claude-Auguste Berey around that time portrays Anne de Rohan-Chabot, princesse de Soubise, with the board at her side.
The magazine said the game had come from America, a touch of the exotic for the newest fashion in Paris.
A reader wrote in that people had tried starting from the centre, but nobody had yet found a way.
Mercure galant, August 1697. On the 37-hole French board it cannot be done, as was proved long after. That is why the French board here begins at c1, where a solution exists.
- 1697Mercure galant
The first printed description: board, rules and problems, in the August and September issues.
- c. 1697Berey
A fashion engraving of the princesse de Soubise at the board. A second print shows a lady of quality playing.
- 1709A coat of arms
A 37-hole board appears on a family’s arms in a French armorial: someone thought the game worth wearing. The French board comes first; the 33-hole cross English speakers know follows later.
- 1912Bergholt
Ernest Bergholt solves the English board in 18 moves. A move is a run of jumps by one marble, so these are the 31 single jumps in our replay.
- 1964Beasley
John Beasley proves that no shorter solution exists. He is also the historian this page rests on.
Aujourd’hui
Why we are keeping it going
We did not invent this game, and we are careful never to say so. We are looking after one that has been played for more than three hundred years.
Think of what it has survived: the fashion of a king’s court, a puzzle in a magazine, a shape on a family’s arms, a proof in a mathematician’s papers, a board on a restaurant table. It never needed power-ups or levels to stay alive. It needed a board, some marbles, a question, and a little time.
So the rules are the rules, and nothing here asks who you are or sells your attention. We added a puzzle for each day because a small habit is a kind way to keep someone company, but the game underneath is the same one.
The princess in the corner of every page is a reminder of where this started: a quiet face, a board in front of her, and an afternoon with nothing to do but think. We hope to add more boards and new ways to play, slowly. The old board will always be here, exactly as it was.
Sources: John Beasley, Peg solitaire: contributions towards a historical update; Henri d’Allemagne, Musée rétrospectif de la classe 100 / Jeux (Paris, 1900). Fonts and code: MIT / OFL licences.